An Indonesian court on Friday convicted an Australian beauty school student of smuggling marijuana into the tourist island of Bali and sentenced her to 20 years in prison.
Schapelle Corby (27) who insists she is innocent and that the drugs were planted in her luggage, fought back tears as the verdict was announced.
”Judges are of the opinion that the accused imported marijuana,” Judge Wayan Suastrawan said. ”She was arrested red-handed at the airport.”
Corby’s case drew intense interest in her home country and the court was packed with dozens of Australian journalists, Corby supporters and her relatives, including her mother and father.
Corby was convicted of smuggling 4,1kg of marijuana into Bali’s airport last year in her surfboard bag. Corby could have faced a maximum penalty of death, and prosecutors had requested a life sentence.
Corby’s lawyers allege that the drugs were planted by airport baggage handlers in Australia as part of a drug smuggling operation and that they ended up in Bali by mistake. – Sapa-AP